Support thread for moms of picky eaters - Part 2

[Tweakster]

Ho hum.  I feel like we're here now.  The other night DH made salmon skewers and he used to wind them down.  Now he's all like 'no like it fish, Finley done' push plate away and that's that.  

Anyone know some decent brands of ready made meals? Anything organic or mainly additive free? Seriously that's what it is coming down to.  I'm already less than enthusiastic about cooking and to cook to have someone spit it in the bin or try to hand me a mushed up whatever he doesn't like 'here mommy, here you go' he says lol  I'm just not into it.  It's becoming eggs, cheese toast, and sandwiches for dinner nearly every night now.  Meh.

How bad are Eggo waffles on a scale of 1 to 10? 

[~inbalance~]

Wendy, I'm sure if you scour the health section at Loblaws or supertore there would some pretty healthy ready made stuff.  I also head to the fresh ready made section as opposed to the frozen stuff.

Not that my kids eat any of it anyway. 

Not sure about the eggos though, but even those they don't eat so no help there! 

[Mom to M&M]

Wendy, I'm sorry that Finn is being more picky later. But he's been such a good eater for now that I'd guess it's a phase and will come back around? At least he only pushes it away - Matthew takes a look and screams and screams cause he's hungry but doesn't want whatever it is...

As for ready made meals, I'm a BIG fan of Kidfresh frozen meals. All natural, no preservatives or additives, have hidden veggies in them and they taste pretty good! See here: http://www.kidfresh.com/our-products/

I also like Amy's organics frozen meals (they have some specifically for kids or Marisa will sometimes eat a small portion of one of the adult dishes). Watch out for sodium though.

As for waffles, Van's makes really yummy healthy ones that look a lot like Eggo waffles but "better" for you. DS loves the multigrain ones toasted with Earth Balance spread (he can't have butter). It's his breakfast 4-5 days out of 7. I did recently switch him to square waffles instead of round ones though so I can make them at home (a friend is selling me her four-slice square waffle iron on the cheap) and be even more comfortable with the ingredients.

[Tweakster]

I'm sure it's just a phase (please let it be please let it be lol) he has actually screamed a few times, and we find ourselves caving a bit which we don't want to do.  But who has the energy?

I'll look for healthy waffles lol  I put maple syrup on his...guess I should nip that in the bud too huh?

He has been a pretty good eater, mind you we don't try anything over the top in our house anyway, we're boring so that helps to start lol

[~inbalance~]

I think pure maple syrup is good, but that cheaper stuff is full of cr@p really.  Or you can put agave on his waffles, it has the same sweetness and consistency.

Ugh, now I feel like I need to try harder but feeling a little burnt out as well. 

[Mom to M&M]

I would think Van's would be available in Canada? If not and if you have a waffle maker I can send you a yummy, healthy, easy recipe that you can make lots of, freeze and then have toaster waffles on the cheap! I would try to cut out the syrup if possible. We DO put a drop (literally) of pure maple syrup on pancakes here but it's only a tiny bit. None on waffles. Earth Balance spread, apple butter (YUM) sometimes - that sort of thing.

Tonight DH, DD and I are having stir fry. Yummy and easy - chicken, cashews, veggies over short grained rice with a yummy sauce. He won't touch it and will scream when he sees it. I'll offer him a choice of oatmeal or English muffin or something boring-ish but it won't be fun. Pretty much unless it's pasta or pizza at dinner time he screams. Mind you the pasta is whole grain and can have bolognese on it and the pizza is homemade and has spinach on it. But still. I'm definitely burnt out as well...

[Tweakster]

Yup.  I don't even cook really and I'm burnt out lol  We're doing a lot of grilling these days but that's even hit or miss.  Just meat and a veg on the side.  I can barely get him to eat 2 carrots out of 4 that I put on his plate.  Maybe I'll just start serving him cheese at every single meal until he's sick of it lol

Problem in my house is that DH is happy to just have sandwiches.  Marmite every day please.  That's how he lives.  So meals to him have no meaning and I'm stuck with all the planning and stressing and shopping for them. 

We're not doing many carbs these days so I haven't made any pasta in months!

[~Sara~]

I put maple syrup on his...guess I should nip that in the bud too huh?

Applesauce is really good with pancakes/waffles   Especially if Finn likes to dip.

So meals to him have no meaning and I'm stuck with all the planning and stressing and shopping for them.

Sounds like us!  Except DH knows he'd better chime in bc he has to cook Mon-Thurs nights (mwahahahahaaa)!

Wendy--a bit OT--but I've been thinking about you guys lots lately, knowing how you want to cook more stuff at home but want to get your feet wet first.  I've been really into a couple of things lately that have really helped give me ideas and helped me to realize that homemade cooking is much less daunting that I thought:
1) http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/kelseys-essentials/index.html --Seriously, her recipes are so simple and use basic, common ingredients.  I usually only have time for them on the weekends, but it's a start.
2) http://www.melskitchencafe.com/ --This is a mom of 4 boys whose cooking philosophy is that anyone can make yummy food with everyday ingredients and tools (read the About section and you'll see what I mean).

Ok...back on topic

Karen--yay for getting the waffle iron!  That's exciting to be able to make M's waffles at home and exactly how he needs.

[Mom to M&M]

As expected, NOT a fun dinner. Of course he screamed at the stir fry. I had an alternative of challah french toast or multigrain English muffin with goat cheese (both already made). After a lot of yelling he tried the english muffin (first time!) and did have 2-3 small bites but didn't seem to really like it. Then he yelled more, realized it wasn't working (LOL) and had maybe 1/3 a slice of challah french toast (I use extra egg). Then more yelling until he settled on his pouch of blueberry/purple carrot/pear pouch and had 3/4 of that. He's still hungry and wants pistachio nuts but I don't want to give him any because he had a lot of roasted chickpeas at PM snack and the combo would likely upset his stomach...

Sara I have to check those sites out, thanks!

[Jiinx]

Sometimes I wish Karen lived closer so I can just send my child to her Just kidding. It IS exhausting cooking for picky eaters. So much effort to hide the veggies..bake things that you feel good about them eating..watching the salt, sugar..etc etc.

Hey Wendy - sorry you're here

karen - lovely pic of you and M!

martina and sara - hugs just because Hope you have better eating days..

[Sam-n-Max's Mommy]

Wendy - welcome and sorry you have to join us!

Ladies - do you think the fact that I never pushed DS with Stage 3 baby food has impacted his finger food pickiness? After he had been eating Stage 2 for awhile, I tried to move to Stage 3, but he refused it because he didn't like the lumps.  Since he wouldn't eat it, I stopped giving it to him, but was ok with that since he was eating different finger foods and I just assumed that he would get texture that way.  Now that he seems to have an issue with texture (ie won't put cut up fruits/veggies in his mouth I think because he doesn't like the way it feels, seems to dislike the feeling on his hands of anything with a sauce or spread on it, etc), I'm wondering if I created this by not working more on Stage 3.  I started trying again and he ate some yesterday (although it wasn't terribly lumpy, just maybe a little thicker), but had one spoon this morning (Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal) and then refused. Should I keep trying as it may help in the finger food variety department?

On a better note, this morning, S ate almost a whole piece of french toast coated in egg and carrot, and almost a whole scrambled egg with cauliflower puree mixed in.  These aren't new foods, but I was quite pleased with the quantity!

[~Sara~]

Nicole, will he spit out the cut up food if it's given to him on a spoon?  So, like, if he doesn't have to touch it with his hands?  DS didn't like messy foods for a while either, and even now will fuss if he has something on them   Congrats on the good morning!!

[Mom to M&M]

Thanks for the sweet words Sarah!

Nicole - we never did Stage 3 type foods with either kid. I know a lot of people who don't.

Good day so far - breakfast was three more of those homemade silver dollar pancakes. Lunch was a full piece of his special pizza (homemade with tons of chopped spinach and goat's mozzarella). Lots of smoothie all day. Snack was pistachio nuts, one baby carrot (!) and a few slices of apple (!) which he hasn't had in a while. Apparently he likes granny smith more than red apples (as does his mama). We'll see how dinner goes. The rest of us are having pasta primavera (I make it VERY heavy on the veggies) - he can have his pasta with just sauce but will offer veggies on the side (which he won't eat).

Trying this pancake recipe tomorrow - will make as is except using EB instead of butter and chopping the apples super fine/thin. Will report back! http://www.meyenberg.com/index.php?page=kids-kitchen

[Tweakster]

We went straight to BLW because of his reflux and he didn't like the spoon or textures, he'd grab it when you tried to put it in his mouth.  So just chunks of regular food is where we started, and glad we did because that is what made him such a good eater for 2 years.  Now at 2 his taste buds have peaked and it's been quite interesting trying to be creative with the minimal time I have.  Can't wait until he can help with the food prep lol

[Mom to M&M]

Dinner went well but that's not too surprising, since it was pasta LOL. He had a fair amount of Barilla plus penne with sauce, none of the veggies on the side but did also have a pouch of broccoli, peas and pears. The pancakes were a bust though - tasted WAY too much like dry corn/cornmeal. Was trying to make them in advance for tomorrow morning but looks like no pancakes tomorrow!